I can do more with you than I can alone (Black Box)

Here’s a deeply interesting question for us: why is my language ability even in interpersonal skills measured by what I can do alone, when what I can do with you, my conversation partner who can meet me in my “zone of proximal development,” is a lot more?

If you’re not familiar with Vygotsky and sociocultural theory, you won’t want to miss the newest Musicuentos Black Box videocast from Karen Tharrington. She says, “What is mediation and ZPD? How do they help learners acquire languages? This videocast is a presentation of Sociocultural Theory as it relates to SLA.”

The Musicuentos Black Box is a collection of media resources designed to bridge the gap between Second Language Acquisition research and teachers in the classroom. The project is co-sponsored by Musicuentos and Indwelling Language. For more information or to find out how you can keep this resource freely available to teachers, visit the Musicuentos Black Box page.